Hill, C. Russell, and Frank P. Stafford. 1974. "Allocation of Time to Preschool Children and Educational Opportunity." Journal of Human Resources 9(3):323-341.

Using a unique data source on family time use both in and outside the home, we obtained estimates of parental time allocated to preschool children for several socioeconomic status groups. We find that while high status mothers have a relatively high potential wage, they spend from two to three times as much time in preschool child care as do low status mothers. To the extent that this class differential in time investments to preschool children influences cognitive achievement, our results indicate again that equal educational programs across different school systems need not imply equal educational opportunity.

The authors are, respectively, Assistant Professor of Economics and Associate Professor of Economics, University of Michigan. The research in this paper was supported by National Science Foundation grant GS-3010 and the Institute of Public Policy Studies, University of Michigan. We would like to thank Gary Becker, Malcolm Cohen, George Johnson, and Ronald Lee for helpful comments and Nancy Baerwaldt and Joan Scheffler for providing information on the survey data used in the study. The editor and a referee also provided beneficial suggestions for revising an earlier draft. The authors accept sole responsibility for any errors.

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